ICSI

ICSI may be useful in treating many aetiologies of infertility, including oligozoospermia [few sperm], asthenozoospermia [low motility], or antisperm antibodies. With ICSI very few sperm are necessary because only a single sperm is injected into the cytoplasm of each egg.

In addition, ICSI may be utilized in cases of azoospermia [no sperm] whether due to vasectomy, spinal cord injury, or other reasons. With the help of an Urologist, sperm can be extracted from testicular tissue allowing patients the opportunity to father a child for whom it might otherwise not be possible.

ICSI is a micromanipulation technique involving a single sperm being injected through a fine glass needle directly into the cytoplasm of the egg. In natural fertilization sperm compete and when the first sperm enters the egg cell, the egg cell blocks the entry of any other sperm. ICSI bypasses the barriers which normally permit only one sperm to penetrate the oocyte, however embryo growth and development is not different from embryos fertilized through conventional IVF.